The invention relates to a subsurface pullout guide for drawers or the like, which are supported in the carcass of a cupboard, wardrobe or cabinet and can be pulled out. The guiding rail of the pullout guide, constructed as a profiled rail and fastened to the wall of the carcass, engages from below the associated running rail, which is formed by a hollow profiled rail open at the underside and disposed in the region of the bottom of the drawer or the underside of the side wall of the drawer. In the interior of the running rail, the pullout guide forms rolling surfaces for rolling bodies, which are held in an elongated cage and are capable of rolling along transporting paths of the guiding rails on the one hand and on transporting paths formed by assigned regions of the inner surface of the running rail on the other and thus enable the running rail to be displaced longitudinally relative to the guiding rail.
Because of the plurality of rolling bodies in the form of balls and/or rollers, which can be displaced spatially not only in the pullout direction but also at right angles thereto, drawer pullout guides of the type in question here have the advantage not only of running easily and being able to carry high loads but also of having a high transverse stability when fully pulled out, so that a drawer, supported by means of them in the carcass of a cupboard, wardrobe or cabinet, even when pulled out completely, has no noticeable play in the horizontal transverse direction. For this reason, such pullout guides are used to an increasing extent for supporting drawers in high quality furniture. It is also advantageous in this connection to have the possibility of constructing the hollow profile, used for the running rail, with a low overall height, so that the running rail, in the so-called "subsurface arrangement", can be disposed within the side wall at the underside of the bottom of a drawer directly next to the side wall protruding downwards slightly beyond the bottom, if the side walls of the drawer are formed by hollow metal or plastic profiles, which are open at the underside. By these means, it is possible to enlarge the width of the drawer in comparison to the roller pullout guides, which must be disposed between the outside of the side wall of the drawer and the facing interior side of the supporting wall of the carcass. The cage, which holds the rolling bodies between the guide and the running rail and fixes the mutual distance between them and which is usually constructed from plastic, requires the travel of the pullout guides in question to be limited to a path, which is shorter than the depth of the associated drawer, so that the rear wall of the completely pulled-out drawer is still within the associated carcass of the cupboard, wardrobe or cabinet by the dimensions of the cage, that is, the pullout guides of the type in question here are so-called "partial pullouts". Especially when the drawer is low in height and very deep, the rear region of the drawer, which still lies within the carcass of the cupboard, wardrobe or cabinet in the pulled-out state, can then not be inspected easily and is not very accessible. It would therefore be desirable to construct the pullout guides also so that they can be pulled out completely; the associated drawer could then be pulled so far out of the carcass of the cupboard, wardrobe or cabinet, that its rear wall is flush with the front surface of the carcass of the cupboard, wardrobe or cabinet. Any such guides of the type under consideration here, which can be pulled out completely and are available, are obtained practically as a combination of two simple pullouts into so-called "double pullouts". For roller pullout guides, for which the overall height is of little importance, because the total height of the side wall of the drawer is available, such "double pullouts" are used on a large scale. On the other hand, in the case of the roller body-supported pullout guides, which are in question here and can be used in subsurface arrangement, "double pullouts" can be used only in special cases, since the vertical overall height in the case of these pullouts is significantly greater, as a result of which the side walls of the drawer must protrude more or the bottom of the drawer must be raised in relation to the height, at which it is disposed in the side wall, if the arrangement of running rails is not to be visible in an undesirable manner at the underside of the drawer. With that, however, the capacity of the drawer is decreased.
In those cases, in which the capacity of the drawer is not as critical, attempts were also made with simple pullouts to attain the appearance of a complete pullout, in that the drawer was shortened in the pullout direction approximately by the dimensions of the cage, whereas a running rail of the largest length possible was used. The end regions of the running rails, pointing to the rear wall of the carcass, thus protrude beyond the rear wall of the drawer into the interior of the carcass. Since the protruding ends of the running rail are covered by the rear wall of the drawer, this is not noticeable for drawers supported in the carcass of the cupboard, wardrobe or cabinet. However, the capacity of the drawers is, of course, decreased in proportion to the decrease in depth.
It was proposed for roller pullout guides that a complete pullout could be realized owing to the fact that, instead of inserting a further intermediate rail in the rear end of the running rail, an additional running rail part, which can be tilted about a vertical or horizontal axis, be added. As the drawer is pushed in and approaches the completely closed position, this additional running rail part is swiveled by a forced control about the horizontal axis in the upward direction or about the vertical axis towards the inside in front of the rear wall of the drawer in such a manner, that the drawer can be pushed in further. When the drawer is being pulled out, the running rail part, then aligned once again with the actual running rail, makes available an additional pullout path, which permits the drawer to be pulled out completely (German Offenlegungsschrift 2946113). Such complete pullouts for roller pullout guides have not gained acceptance in practice and, for the subsurface pullout guide under consideration here with pullout guides, constructed as hollow profiles, being supported by roller bodies, complete pullouts have become known only in the form of the aforementioned "double pullouts".
Against this background, it is an object of the invention to develop the subsurface pullout guides, which are under consideration here and the running rail of which is supported on rolling bodies on the guiding rail, further into a complete pullout, without causing an increase in the overall height in the vertical direction.
Starting out from a pullout guide of the type mentioned above, this object is accomplished pursuant to the invention owing to the fact that, at the end of the running rail within the carcass, a hollow profiled section, identical in cross section with the hollow profiled cross section of the running rail, is hinged so that it can be swiveled in a known manner from a first position, in which it is aligned with the running rail and which adjoins its end in the carcass directly, into a second position, which extends, on the other hand, essentially parallel to the rear wall of the drawer and that, at the guiding rail and the pivotable hollow profiled section, interacting guiding means are provided, which swivel the hollow profiled section during the shifting of the running rail on the guiding rail from the end position, assigned to the completely pulled out position of the drawer, in the direction in which the drawer is pushed in, as its end within the carcass approaches the rear wall of the carcass, increasingly into the second position, which is essentially parallel to the rear wall of the drawer. Surprisingly, it has turned out that the pivotable hinging of the hollow profiled section at the rear end of the running rail, formed by a hollow profile of identical cross section, can be carried out with a sufficient accuracy, so that obstructions or stoppages do not occur even when the cage, containing the rolling bodies, passes over the interface between the hollow profiled section and the running rail. On the other hand, an additional pullout path is actually made available in this manner in the length of the hollow profiled section and enables even comparatively deep drawers, the rear wall of which, in the completely pushed in position, is taken almost to the rear wall of the carcass, to be pulled out to such an extent, so as to compensate for the loss in pullout path caused by the cage, containing the rolling bodies.
The swiveling axis of the hollow profiled rail at the running rail can either extend horizontally or also vertically in each case at right angles to the shifting direction of the running rail on the guiding rail, the hollow profiled section, mentioned in the first case, preferably being hinged so that it can swivel from the position, aligned with the running rail, into a position, in which it is swiveled up relative to the aligned position, while in the second case there is swiveling away from the adjacent side wall of the carcass in front of the rear wall of an associated drawer.
To control the swiveling process of the hollow profiled section in a preferred further development of the invention, a control section, pointing from the longitudinal extent of the profiled rail in the swiveling direction of the hollow profiled section, is joined to the end of the profiled rail, which is located at the rear wall of the carcass, and forms the guiding rail, the guiding means then having a control element, which is provided at the hollow profiled section, and engages the control section upon approaching the closing action of the drawer.
Moreover, the embodiment may advantageously be such that the control section adjoins a longitudinal guide, which is provided at the guiding rail and engages the control element.
If the hollow profiled section is hinged to the end of the running rail within the carcass in such a manner that it can be swiveled about a horizontal axis, the longitudinal guide advisably is formed by a strip of material, which protrudes essentially at right angles into the interior of the carcass from a profiled leg of the profiled rail, including the control section, which forms the guiding rail, and lies against and can be fastened to the carcass wall, and the control element is formed by a projection, protruding from the hollow profiled section in the direction of the guiding rail and held at least against one side of the material strip.
On the other hand, if the hollow profiled section is hinged so that it can be swiveled about a vertical axis, the design advisably is such that the longitudinal guide is formed by a strip-shaped region of material of at least one of the profiled legs of the profiled rail forming the guiding rail, which profiled leg or legs is or are reduced in height in their end region within the carcass and transformed out of their course, parallel to the carcass wall, in the direction of the course of the control section, and that the control element is formed by at least one projection, which protrudes from the hollow profiled section to the guiding rail and is held in contact with at least at one side of the strip-shaped region or regions of material.
Moreover, the control element can also be formed by two projections lying against opposite sides of the strip of material, as a result of which a forced control of the swiveling process of the hollow profiled section is then produced.
In any case, it is advisable to provide the projection or projections, at least in the region of its or their contact with the strip of material, with a friction-reducing surface, for example, a suitable plastic coating, in order to avoid binding when the drawer is pulled out or pushed in.
For this purpose, the embodiment can also be such that the projection or projections is or are formed in each case by a control roller, which is rotatably mounted at the hollow profiled section and the peripheral surface of which rolls along one side of the strip of material.
Particularly when the control element is formed by only one projection, held in contact with one side of the strip of material, it is advisable to put the hollow profiled section elastically under tension in the direction of a swiveling motion from the first into the second position. This putting under tension brings about not only the contact between the control element and the strip of material, but at the same time also, if the tension on the spring used is adequate, causes the drawer, on approaching the closed position, to be pulled under the action of the spring into the completely closed position by the hollow profiled section swiveling with respect to the running rail. This means that the function of automatically pulling in the drawer can be realized without additional structural expense.
Because of the fact that the drawer, supported with the inventive pullout guides in a carcass of a cupboard, wardrobe or cabinet, can be pulled further out of the carcass of cupboard, wardrobe or cabinet than it can usually with a conventional pull-out, the bending stress on the rails of the pull-out guides is also increased in the completely pulled-out state, in which the overlap of the running and guiding rails, after all, corresponds essentially only to the length of the cage of the rolling bodies. It is therefore advisable to provide at the end of the guiding rail outside of the carcass at least one projection, which supports the running rail in the completely pulled-out position of the drawer and thus, in addition to the rolling bodies provided at the end of the cage averted from the rear wall, transfers the stresses, arising in the completely pulled-out position of the drawer, to the guiding rail. Here also, it may then once again be advisable if the projection or projections is or are provided at least in the region supporting the running rail with a friction-reducing surface, it also being possible for the projection to be formed by a roller, which is mounted rotatably at a profiled leg of the guiding rail guided into the interior of the running rail and rolls along the inside of the cross member section of the hollow profiled forming the running rail.
In order to make it impossible for the drawer, together with the running rail, to be pulled out of the carcass further than intended, it is advisable to provide a stop for the control element at the end of the strip of material, which is averted from the rear wall of the carcass and forms the longitudinal guide, with which stop the control element collides in the intended pullout position.
If the control element is formed by a control roller, the stop can be formed by an end section of the strip of material bent circularly to correspond to the radius of the control roller.
It is possible to do without the spring, which places the hollow profiled section elastically under tension in the direction of a swiveling into the second position, if this swiveling into the closed position takes place necessarily due to the appropriate construction of the control section. According to a further advantageous development of the invention, this can be attained owing to the fact that a control curve is formed between two boundary walls, which protrude towards the hollow profiled section and between which the control element is accommodated and guided suitably.
In this case also, the control element is advisably constructed as a control roller, which is mounted so that it can rotate at the hollow profiled section and the diameter of which essentially is equal to the distance between the mutually facing surfaces of the control curve boundary walls.
In this connection, it is advisable to make the height of the mutually facing surfaces of the control curve boundary walls the same as or slightly larger than the width of the peripheral region of the control roller that is accommodated between these surfaces and to have short strips of material, which embrace the peripheral region of the control roller somewhat on the hollow profiled section side, protrude from the edges of the boundary walls, facing the hollow profiled rail section, as a result of which the unintentional exit of the control roller from the control curve is precluded reliably.
In this case, the control section advisably is constructed as a flat plastic component, which is provided at the end of the guiding rail within the carcass, manufactured separately and fastened to the guiding rail.
Moreover, the control section preferably is produced from a thermoplastic synthetic material, from the side of which, facing the guiding rail profiled leg provided for fastening the guiding rail to the supporting wall of the carcass, short, integrally joined fastening pins protrude, which reach through boreholes in the profiled leg and are transformed at their free ends by thermoforming into rivet heads.